Joe, taking it up carefully with both hands, like a bird's-nest with eggs in it, wouldn't hear of parting with that piece of property

But Joe, taking it up carefully with both hands, like a bird’s-nest with eggs in it, wouldn’t hear of parting with that piece of property, and persisted in standing talking over it in a most uncomfortable way.

– Charles Dickens

Great Expectations, Chapter 27. When Joe Gargery visits Pip at his London home, Pip greets him and asks to take his hat. But Joe feels uncomfortable and out of place in Pip’s new place. Handling the hat awkwardly, a clever simile compares it to a bird’s nest with eggs in it.

Charles Dickens Quotes